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Lhasa: police close the monastery of Drepung
All the nuns forced to return to their districts of origin. The police wanted to stop the continuous growth of the community. Unknown fate of 85 monks arrested in May.
Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - More arrests and evictions for Tibetan monks and nuns. On 14 August the police closed the Drepung monastery for women in the suburbs of Lhasa. According to local sources, the community had growing vocations and frightened the authorities into suppressing the monastery and the forcing the nuns to return to their districts.
A dissident who fled Tibet to India in close touch with the people in Tibet emphasizes that the government is stifling and "living in Lhasa is equivalent to being in prison." Those who transgress the rules are arrested or disappear.
To date the fate of 85 monks is unknown of the former monastery of Tashi Lhunpu, arrested in May, is unknown. After the closure of their community in 1995 they had managed to maintain the dimesions of their "community", helping each other to find jobs as waiters, shopkeepers, drivers and supporting the elderly. Despite the appeals of the families, the authorities do not want to reveal the place and the reasons for their detention.